Saving Private Ryan is a beautifully captivating and emotionally engaging film. It could be argued as one of Spielberg’s best works and rightfully so. It takes place during the Normandy invasion of WWII, where three of four brothers are killed in combat. Upon realising this, General Marshall orders for the fourth brother, Private Ryan (Matt Damon), to be brought home immediately and sends out a rescue mission to find him. All they know is he is somewhere in Normandy. Challenged with this task is Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and the remainder of the 2nd Ranger Battalion. They embark on a tough, dangerous, daring mission- to save Private Ryan. The cast in this film is amazing, Tom Hanks, Vin Diesel and more make up a great rescue team. One of the stand outs in this team is Jeremy Davis who plays Corporal Upham, an anxious, translator who is thrown in the deep end because of his knowledge of German. A scene that stand out to me is where he is emotionally breaking down on the battlefield and is confronted by a German solider, who sees his state of dismay and spares his life. He later then makes the decision to kill him, showing exactly how twisted and corrupt war can make any man. Another moment that stood out to me was at the end, when Miller told Ryan to ‘earn it’ before we go back to the present day to see a much older Ryan questioning if he earnt it, showing how Miller’s words stuck with Private Ryan the rest of his long life. The cinematography for this film is incredible. A plethora of camera aspects are showcased during the opening fight on Omaha beach. Everything from the camerawork to the angles used and the colours used. The way everything is dark and navy all except for pouring blood and violent explosions just help to set the depressive themes. Speaking of Omaha beach, the action shown in the film is so engaging and second to none-I was afraid to blink during some shots out of fear of missing something incredible. Saving Private Ryan is one of the best war films to date, it perfectly shows the devastation and impact on loved ones during those times and is one of if not the greatest war film.
